News and views about the implementation of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009 and other legislation, schemes and policies impacting the Right to Education of India's Children.

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Saturday, January 25, 2014

578 ‘illegal’ schools face closure this year

HYDERABAD:
As many as 578 unrecognized schools in the city and Ranga Reddy
district face closure from June this year, which means that around 1.16
lakh students could be left in the lurch and may have to take admission
elsewhere.
Cracking the whip for not applying for recognition, the school education department published a list of private English and Telugu medium schools
in the two districts on Sunday. These schools will not be allowed to
admit fresh students in the next academic year, officials said, adding
that the list would be put up on the department website for the benefit
of parents.

"The list is expected to be a guide for parents who want to enrol their
children in schools. These (unrecognized) schools could be closed if
they do not apply for affiliation under the state board within three
months," said A Subba Reddy, district education officer, Hyderabad. The
government is all set to close down more unrecognized schools in the
future, officials said.
Meanwhile, the education department has
decided to help the students of such 'illegal' schools. "The students
can take admission in nearby government schools if they do not get
admission in private schools," Reddy said.
However, experts say
many students may not want to opt for government schools. "Parents may
have opted for these unrecognized schools as most of them provide
English medium education. They may not want to opt for government
schools, most of which provide education in Telugu medium," said N
Ramana Reddy from Save Our Education Society.
Students should be given the option of studying in reputed and
recognized private schools under the Right to Education (RTE) Act, he
added.
Under the RTE Act, 25 per cent of the seats in private
schools are reserved for children from socio-economically weaker
backgrounds. Educationists said that instead of just closing down
unrecognized schools, officials should take care to first implement the
RTE act. "The act has not been implemented in the state even three years
after it was instituted. The state government should take extra effort
to implement the act now as it is cracking the whip on unrecognized
private schools," said R Venkat Reddy, director, M V Foundation.